Hardships Unnumbered
by LemonzMeringue
Summary: The Goblin King has kept his end of the bargain, but what new trials await Sarah?
1. Chapter 1

Hardships Unnumbered 

"Give me the child."

"Be wary, Sarah. I have been generous up until now. But I can be cruel."

"Generous? What have you done that's generous?"

"Everything! Everything you have asked for, you have been given. You asked that the child be taken; I took him. You cowered before me; I was frightening. I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down- and I have done it all for you! I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?"

"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city, to take back the child that you have stolen.

"For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom-"

"Stop! Look, Sarah. Look what I am offering you. Your dreams!"

"And my kingdom is as great.."

"I ask for so little. Just let me rule you, and you can have everything you want."

"My kingdom is as great... my kingdom is as great..."

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave!"

Green eyes focused on mismatched blue and brown. "You have no power over me!"

Despair washed over his face, followed by something akin to pride. He tossed the crystal he had held into the air as he fell, defeated, denied, rejected.

Sarah caught the crystal as it fell, and it popped like the delicate bubble it resembled. She watched the fall of the Goblin King with eyes that would have surprised anyone who had followed her story- they reflected disappointment. One would wonder that the heroine of the story should have such a reaction to the fall of her antagonist.

She had won her brother- what had she lost?

As she watched the owl sweep through the french doors into the night, she noticed the clock chiming midnight.

"Toby!" she murmured, determined to see that the Goblin King had lived up to his end of the game and had returned her brother. Running upstairs, she burst into her parents room, stopping in shock. Before her stood a gorgeous woman, too beautiful to be human, who hung over the crib watching a sleeping Toby as he dreamed.

"No doubt his dreams will be filled with the goblins he met and befriended in his brief journey Underground, and the man who cared for him so tenderly while his ungrateful sister ran the Labyrinth."

"Who are you?" Sarah demanded. She had defeated one villain tonight; would she need to go two for two?

"Someone who deserves the love of the King of the Goblins much more than you, Sarah."

"Love? What do you mean? He was my adversary!" Sarah objected, though deep in her heart she rejected the words coming from her mouth.

"Foolish girl," the woman scoffed. She leveled a glare and a smirk at Sarah. "'But what no one knew was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and had granted her certain powers,'" she quoted, then laughed. "Tonight the Goblin King has fallen! His protection will no longer save you, and neither can your traitorous friends!"

Sarah backed up to the door of her parents' bedroom. With a flick of her wrist the woman she faced made the door slam behind her. Toby woke with a cry and began wailing. The woman paused and looked at the crying baby.

"All of this over such a little thing," she murmured.

"Stay away from him!" Sarah shouted. "Hoggle! Ludo! Sir Didymus! Help! I need you!"

Dark laughter followed her cries as the woman focused again on Sarah. "Did I not already tell you that they could not help you? They have already received their punishment for helping you!"

Sarah's green eyes welled up. "What have you done to them?" she cried.

The woman's eyes glowed white with magic, and she seemed to grow in size and menace. "Merely gave them over to the one they betrayed. Although he would never do anything to hurt them, of course. He could not blame them for loving you... But I will!" She stretched out her hand and threw a spell at Sarah.

As the magic hit her and started to consume her, Sarah cried out to the one person she never thought she would.

"Jare-" The cry was cut off as the magic flashed, leaving the faint scent of ozone in the room. The woman walked toward Sarah, now frozen in stone, her face contorted in fear and what seemed to be longing.

Toby continued his wailing as the woman circled the statue, admiring her work. Finally pausing in front of Sarah again, she raised a glowing hand into the air.

"Now crumble!" she hissed. A sudden gust of air blew open the window, and the woman turned as the Goblin King once again strode into Sarah's home.

She gave him a smile that was more the baring of her teeth at his approach. "Goblin King," she muttered. "What brings you again to this place?"

"A summons, apparently," Jareth replied coolly, dusting glitter from his armor. "Although strangely unexpected. Where is the girl Maegary?"

Smirking and bowing mockingly, she stepped aside and let him see the statue that had once been the Champion of the Labyrinth. Shock and fury overcame Jareth's usual hauteur. "What have you done?" he asked in a quiet, dangerous voice.

Maegary laughed lowly. "What needed to be done, Jareth." She placed a hand on her hip and gestured to the statue. "Think of it as a gift," she mocked.

"Undo this Maegary or I swear-"

"What? Goblin King, you have been defeated this very evening. You have spent your power to nothing reordering time, transporting the girl and the babe from the Underground, and then bringing yourself here again. I doubt you have anything left to threaten me with,"she taunted. "However, just in case you do-" she raised a flashing hand and hurled a spell toward Toby.

Just as quickly, the Goblin King hurled a crystal that intercepted the spell and absorbed it, leaving the babe unharmed. When he focused again, Maegary was gone, but her voice lingered mockingly in the air.

"Since you are so fond of the mortal girl, I've sent the statue to the castle in the center of the Labyrinth. Enjoy looking upon what you never can have!" her mocking laughter drifted away, and Jareth slumped against the crib. The statue was gone, and he could feel through his connection with the Labyrinth that it was already ensconced in a tall tower of the castle.

A gurgle caught his attention as Toby stood in his crib next to the Goblin King, grabbing fistfuls of his hair and attempting to stuff it in his mouth. Jareth observed the child wearily.

"I will make this right, my fine fellow," he promised. "you have my word."

With a lurch, he stood and walked to the french window of the room. Transforming to his owl form to save his strength, he swooped away and into the sky.

"Sarah? We're home!"

Silence...

"Sarah? Are you home?" Silence...

Toby wailed...


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah stared in to the mist drearily.

"Happy Anniversary," called the voice she had been waiting for. Still, her mood was not to be dispelled so easily.

"How long?" she asked quietly.

He paused. "As of midnight it will be thirteen years."

She sighed deeply. Jareth strode around to stand in front of her. "If it makes you feel any better, you haven't aged a day..."

Sarah gave him a sarcastic glare. "Hard to... when your body is solid rock. I hear they have very long lifespans." She looked up at him with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Any luck on breaking it?"

He said nothing, and her face fell. The glimmer died, and another piece of his heart broke. He hated that he had nothing to give her after all this time. Her eyes filled with tears.

"I hate to see you cry, Sarah," the Goblin King said, wincing. She scrubbed at her face with her hands. He knelt next to her, offering a handkerchief. She eyed it warily.

He grinned. "Come, come now, Sarah. Hasn't time taught you not to fear my gifts?"

She laughed and took the piece of cloth, which stayed in its form instead of turning into a goblin or a snake. "I suppose so. Anyway, nothing can hurt me here," she mused, looking off into the distance as the mist brightened little by little.

"Indeed," the Goblin King said more to himself than to Sarah as he gazed at her. "Nothing shall ever harm you here."

Sarah looked back at Jareth, who shimmered in the growing light. She smiled sadly. "I wish you good morning, Goblin King."

Jareth swallowed a lump in his throat as he watched Sarah grow transparent and begin to fade away. "Good morning, Sarah."

Her sad smile was the last thing he saw before he snapped awake. Morning light streamed into the throne room and he blinked as he sat up from his lounging position on his throne. He stretched his neck back and forth to work out the kinks he had gotten from not sleeping in a proper bed. Glaring at the morning sun, he ran a hand through his messy hair, trying to get it back in its customary style before he saw anyone.

As if on cue, the throne room doors burst open and a horde of his subjects streamed in, loud and raucous as ever. He put up with their antics for a time, then moodily stood up and went to the door, kicking goblins out of his path every few feet. At the door, he turned to one of his more intelligent goblins. "I will be in the tower. See that no one disturbs me. Anyone who does will be immediately bogged."

"Yes, your Highness," the goblin said, bowing.

Jareth could have simply used his magic to appear at the top of the tower, but he felt a sort of masochistic pride as he trudged thirty flights of stairs to reach the top floor. It wasn't as agonizingly exhausting as it had been thirteen years ago the first time he had climbed the stairs; drained of his magic and weary in body and heart. The sight that greeted him on the top floor, however, had not changed:

Sarah, her hand outstretched and his name on her lips, surrounded by her friends from the Goblin Kingdom, similarly frozen in place.

As he had so long ago now, he sat before her and tried to catch his breath. His hand stole forward to rest on her foot, and he raised his gaze to look upon his Champion.

Thirteen years. Thirteen years he had looked for a way to bring her back, and still he had nothing. Never had such a small number of years felt so long. To someone like Jareth, who potentially could live hundreds or thousands of years, thirteen years was merely a drop in the bucket. Yet he felt as though his life had shortened to match his Champion's, since she could not live her own. Each day dragged on for her, and his desperate search for a way to free her was only proving frustrating. The one way he had found to be with her he had stumbled upon accidentally that first night.

Exhausted, Jareth had finally fallen asleep, his hand grasping the statue's stoney ankle. He found himself dreaming- which was odd. Ordinarily, the Goblin King had no use for dreams. He lived dreams. So finding himself wandering through a mist-filled Labyrinth was enough to give him pause.

Never one to let anything get the best of him (except Sarah, he thought miserably), he set off with a firm step that brought him into the hedge maze. Rounding a corner, he saw a figure sitting on the book throne. Dismissing it as the Wise Man, he was about to keep going toward his castle when a sound stopped him.

Slowly he turned around and peered through the mist at the seated figure.

"It's you, isn't it? Goblin King?"

Jareth caught his breath as he recognized Sarah sitting on the throne of knowledge.

"Sarah?" he whispered. He stepped closer to her, and his heart thumped harshly as she smiled radiantly at him.

"I knew you would come! You're here to rescue me, aren't you?" she exclaimed. However, seeing his stern face, she calmed down rapidly. "Aren't you?"

"Sarah," he began again in a stronger voice, again stepping closer. "What are you doing here?"

She looked confused. "What do you mean? I know I'm under a spell, why wouldn't I be here?"

He put his fists on his hips and cocked his head. "This is my dream, Sarah. What are you doing in my dream? Obviously your consciousness is here, you are not merely an illusion of my mind- although you did seem more enthused about my appearance than I would expect from the real Sarah."

Sarah looked irritated, which cemented it in Jareth's mind that it was indeed her and not an illusion. "I _thought_ you were here to help me. Feel free to leave if you're not. I can find my own way to break this spell."

"Oh you can, can you?" he asked with a smirk.

The stubborn look on her face lasted a few seconds more before she sighed forcefully. "No. I suppose I can't. Do you have any idea how to undo this?

Her stubbornness had peaked his interest and therefore his Goblin Kingliness. "And why in the world should I help a girl who has proven herself my adversary this very evening? Who sapped my very essence and laughed as she watched my world fall down?"

Jareth spun on his heel and began to walk away. After a moment, he heard a small voice whisper,

"I didn't laugh."

He spun back to approach her. "Oh, you didn't? Perhaps not aloud, my brave Sarah, but perhaps in your soul-"

"My soul was left wanting!" she yelled. He stopped mid stride, shock on his face.

Sarah stood from her throne. "Accuse me of anything but pride, Goblin King. As I spoke the words to free my brother, my spirit cried out for me to yield! My mind defied you, but my heart-" she paused, tears beginning to build. "My heart..."

Jareth strode toward her, his eyes a storm of emotion. However, before he could reach her, light broke upon the Labyrinth, and he watched Sarah fade along with his mist-filled dream.

Waking, he noticed his arms were wrapped around the legs of the statue...

He looked up at her face, the face of the woman he loved, and stood. Reaching his hand out to stroke her cheek, he took solace in song.

Only one song would do.

_There's such a sad love_

_Deep in your eyes_

_A kind of pale jewel_

_Opened and closed _

_Within Your Eyes_

_I'll place the sky_

_Within your eyes_

He stopped suddenly in shock as water began to drip from the statue's eyes.

"Sarah," he rasped out. Then, because he could do nothing else, he continued his love song, as the tears fell from the eyes of the statue.

_But I'll be there for you_

_As the world falls down..._

Across the Labyrinth, his subjects stopped to listen as the Goblin King sang his heart out to a silent, weeping statue.


End file.
